Legend of Zelda Franchise To Be First Video Game Hall of Fame Honoree

by VGANovember 16, 2011 at 12:00PM
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Spike TV today announced the creation of its first ever Video Game Hall of Fame Award. This annual honor will recognize the most memorable and innovative video game franchises in history. The inaugural recipient, "The Legend of Zelda" is one of the most influential and beloved gaming franchises of all time. The legendary series will take its rightful place as the first entry into the Video Game Hall of Fame, with a special tribute at the 2011 Video Game Awards – the network's ninth annual live televised event to celebrate the best in games. Telecasting from Los Angeles, CA, and featuring some of the most notable names in video games, Hollywood, music, sports and more, the two-hour event honoring the outstanding achievements within the video game industry over the past year will premiere LIVE on Spike TV, MTV 2 and Spike.com on Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.

"The VGAs always celebrate the best games of the year and previews the future with world premieres," said Casey Patterson, executive producer of the VGAs and executive vice president of event production for Viacom Media Networks Entertainment Group. "Now our Video Game Hall of Fame will recognize the game franchises throughout history that have brought our industry to where it is today."

"It is only natural to start with Zelda," said Geoff Keighley, executive in charge, publisher relations, Spike. "'The Legend of Zelda' is a franchise that inspired many of us to see the potential of games when it debuted 25 years ago, and one that has successfully transitioned from one game console generation to the next and continually shown the narrative and artistic potential of the medium."

"All of us at Nintendo are truly honored to have 'The Legend of Zelda' as the first inductee into Spike's Video Game Hall of Fame," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "As we mark the 25th anniversary of the 'Zelda' series, we look forward to the December 10th VGA event as a very special way to celebrate with fans and SPIKE viewers around the globe."

The 2011 Video Game Awards will feature world premieres of the most anticipated games of 2012 and beyond. In addition to the previously announced exclusives debuts of BioWare's next project, the next "Alan Wake" game and "Metal Gear Solid: Rising," this year's viewers will be get the first look at footage from "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Patriots," "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron" and Most Anticipated Game nominee "BioShock: Infinite." Additional exclusives will be announced in the coming weeks.

For additional information about other VGA world exclusives and announcements, fans can log onto VGA.spike.com and get updates via Twitter @SPIKE_TV as well as the hashtag #VGA.